Feral Animorph
by AmDragon001
Summary: Okay I know that I have two other stories but this one has been bothering me too. Anyways here you go and please review!
1. Chapter 1: The Invasion Part 1

_**Chapter 1: The Invasion Part 1**_

My name is Logan. That's it no last name, date of birth, nothing absolutely nothing else! I used to be a completely open book where when someone asked me what was wrong and I told them everything but right now I can't trust anyone.

My new associates are the same; they can't even trust their own family with what was going on in fear of them being controllers… Go ahead and call me crazy because I've been called worse.

I lived in a fairly normal town (I'm not telling you which town to be safe, for all you know I could be living in your town) and went to school before going home to play Assassins Creed while making bets with my friend Larry on everything we do.

The simple pleasures of life… Now they're gone and replaced with brutal fights that leave me and my associates on the edge of death itself. You haven't heard of us because we don't want you to, we're fighting a battle that you can't because we don't know who we can trust.

As one of my associates would say, "We're insane!" And I quote him on that.

If you're reading this because you think this is Fiction than I envy you so read on but if you see some of these things happening in your life then I have one piece of advice for you.

Run! Just drop everything and run so you will have a chance to survive, we don't run because we have the power and the responsibility to see this fight through.

If you still don't know what the hell I'm talking about I guess that I should start from the beginning.

It was fairly a normal day at school with me getting my usual grades (Average by the way!) I decided that instead of heading to my loving and caring home, I should head to the mall and blow my hard earned money on the Arcade Games!

I kept busy playing quite a few games that I didn't know anything about so I got myself killed in them more times than I liked so I ran out of money.

Shaking my head I decided to head home when I bumped into someone, "Excuse me." I said but I smiled when I saw it was Tobias.

Tobias had blonde hair and he wore a parka and jeans all the time. He was also a bully magnet in school and it was either me or a kid named Jake that got them off him. He and I became fast friends probably over a love of Chili Dogs. That and we were usually study partners in school so we became close bros.

"How's it going Toby?" I asked calling him by the nickname that I chose for him, one thing you should know about me is that I make nicknames for my friends and the amount of friends that I had besides Larry was one.

Larry was Heat because of his hot blooded temper but he was a really cool and sensitive guy when you got to know him.

In retaliation to my nickname he called me Ice because of my cool calculative nature that has me make comments that can piss people off when I want to.

Tobias rolled his eyes as I called him that, it was something that he found a little annoying, "Nothing much Logan, where's Larry?"

I smirked, "Heat got grounded."

"What happened this time?" Asked Tobias as he shook his head.

Still chuckling I answered, "A girl texted him trying to get him in trouble by saying they met at an abandoned house but when his mom asked him he said that he did it so he can get it over with figuring that she wouldn't believe him."

"And he was right?" Asked Tobias as we walked around the mall.

"Nope she said and I quote, 'No you didn't, quit lying! You're smarter than that.' And he was gaping like a goldfish." Tobias laughed, "Then he said that he didn't do it so his mom asked him why he was changing his answer so he got so confused he accidently let slip that he took his brother's car for a spin a few days ago."

Now Tobias was clutching his gut, "Oh man Larry can't win with his mom."

Once we were done laughing we saw Jake and Marco walking out of the Arcade.

They saw us and Tobias waved still thinking that Jake was also his friend. I don't blame him for that since Jake stop a few guys who were giving Tobias a swirly and he was always nice to him. But I'm guessing that Jake wasn't sure about Tobias and all because they really don't know each other.

While he was an okay guy Marco was sometimes a complete jerk with his sarcasm but he was a good person too if you look past all that.

I haven't come up with nicknames for them because I don't know them well enough to consider them friends.

"What's up?" Tobias asked them as they came to a stop.

Jake shrugged, "Not much. We're heading home."

I had a glint of amusement in my eyes, "You spent all your money in the Arcade too didn't you?" I asked trying not to laugh.

"Out of quarters." Marco commented answering my question, "Certain people kept forgetting that the Sleaze Troll shows up right after you cross the Nether Fjord. So certain people kept losing the game- and losing our quarter." He kept jerking his thumb at Jake so we knew who he meant 'certain people'.

"Hey we're about to head home to, is it okay if we walk together?" Asked Tobias.

I shook my head at how badly he was being subtle, he wants to make a lot of friends which I can't fault him for doing so I went with him, "I have no problem with that." I said truthfully.

Jake replied, "Sure. Why not?"

With that we headed for the exit only to see two people, one of them being Rachel, Jake's cousin (And a girl who I had a crush on but enough about that) and Cassie.

Rachel was like a teenage supermodel, I'm not kidding, you give her enough time and she would make anything fashionable for people to wear. She was a blonde and had blue eyes. The three main reasons I don't ask her out are one, Jake who can probably kill me if I hurt her in any way even by mistake. Two if Jake didn't Rachel would, she may be pretty but she's like Xena the Warrior Princess in a fight and I would hate to be on the receiving end of that. The third reason is because I've seen the ways that Tobias looked at her so I knew that he had a crush on her so I decided not to try anything and encourage him to do so.

Cassie was a girl that was the complete opposite of Rachel (Personality wise) She was cute and I'm pretty sure that Jake has a crush on her but I don't tease him about it because I'm not close friends with him the way Marco is. She's a black girl that wears Jeans and a plaid shirt and she has short hair. Plus she loves animals!

That's a given since her parents work at the local Zoo known as the Garden.

Anyways Jake spoke up, "You guys heading home? You shouldn't go through the construction site by yourselves. Being girls and all." He said tactlessly.

I mentally groaned as he said that while Tobias shook his head. Jake just dug his own grave with Rachel tonight.

Said girl got in his face, "Are you going to come and protect us you big strong m-a-a-a-n?" She had a harsh edge in her voice, "You think we're helpless just because-."

Cassie interrupted her, "I'd would appreciate it if they did walk with us." She said calmly, "You may not be afraid of anyone but I am."

That was one thing people liked about Cassie; she always knew what to say in order to stop an argument without making anyone feel bad.

I laughed, "Well with all that stuff aside lets go before our parents send out the search parties." I joked, "You coming Toby?"

He sighed, "Its Tobias!" But he was trying not to laugh.

"Whatever you say." I said and with that we headed home cutting through the Construction Site that my parents have told me a million times to never cut through because they were afraid of something happening.

If only I listened that night.

Us local Mall Rats were just hanging out but I didn't speak to any of them really except for Tobias because I was shy, I hide it through my jokes but I guess that other people's opinions matter to me a lot. Only Tobias and Larry know that.

For me life used to be at its scariest when I lost a major bet with Larry or when I had to clean the School Toilets for Detention because I was somehow labeled the Satan Spawn by my teacher Ms. Gila who loved the 'Cool Kids' instantly. I swear that she isn't human.

But I'm getting off course again. Tobias looked up as Marcus was telling a few jokes when he spoke up, "What's that?"

I didn't look, "They're called Stars Toby." He whacked my shoulder for that, "Hey I was just kidding." Then I looked up, "Whoa."

It was a brilliant blue light that was moving faster than an airplane but it was getting slower and slower, "What is that?" Asked Jake.

"The heck if I know." I replied truthfully watching it in awe.

Jake, Tobias and I had a clue on what it was but we didn't say anything because Marco and Rachel would've laughed.

Then Cassie blurted it out, "It's a flying Saucer!"

Marco let out a bark of laughter, "A Flying Saucer?" Then he looked up and went pale, "Oh you weren't kidding."

I looked at it in awe before I realized something, "Is it just me or is our UFO coming this way?"

Jake shrugged, "It's hard to tell." He answered truthfully.

Rachel shook her head, "No it's coming this way!"

She was right but it was slowing down and we could see it clearly now, it wasn't exactly a flying saucer.

First of all, it wasn't all that big. It was about as long as a school bus. The front end was a Pod, shaped almost like an egg. Extending from the back of the pod was a long, narrow shaft. There were two crooked, stubby wing like things, and on the end of each wing was a long Tube that glowed bright blue on the back end. It looked harmless until you see the scorpion like tail on the back that was probably laser cannon.

"Oh this would be so cool if it weren't, so not cool." I muttered as we hid, "So do we run or what?"

Marco looked at me like I was an idiot, "Have you seen Sci-Fi Movies?!" Not waiting for an answer he continued, "If we run it will blast us!"

We were all scared except for Tobias who was grinning like an idiot, "What has you so happy?!" I asked in sheer terror.

"It's going to land." He said like it was the most common thing in the world.

"Then you should be terrified Tobias!" I only stop using nicknames when things get very serious, "For all we know this ship could have Aliens bursting out of our chests in a few minutes."

"Thanks for trying to calm us down." Marco muttered sarcastically as he imagined that.

"Oh shut up Marco." I said as I saw Tobias take a step forward, "Toby?" I asked warily not sure what he was going to do.

"Hello?" I wanted to strangle him at that moment for calling out to something that we weren't sure if it was hostile or not, "Please can you talk to us? We won't hurt you."

'I know' I nearly crapped myself as I heard that, but it wasn't a voice it was like I heard it in my head but I knew that I didn't imagine it.

"Did anyone hear that?" Asked Tobias and I knew that I didn't go crazy at that moment when everyone nodded their heads very slowly I might add, "Can you come out?" He asked out of nowhere.

'Yes. Do not be frightened.' the voice said in our heads again and this time I could tell that it was a kind and gentle voice.

"We won't be frightened." Tobias assured whoever was speaking telepathically.

"Speak for yourself." Jake and I muttered at the same time.

As the door opened I saw what has to be the weirdest thing ever. The being that spoke telepathically looked like a centaur with two extra eyes that were stalks on top of its head and he also had a scorpion tail. No mouth which explained the telepathy a bit and his fur was bluish-green.

"This is the weirdest night ever." I muttered in awe.

**To Be Continued…**


	2. Chapter 2: The Invasion Part 2

_**Chapter 2: The Invasion Part 2**_

As the centaur-scorpion thing walked out it half fell, half stumbled before we saw a big burn mark all over his right side so all caution thrown aside we rushed towards his side, "Hey are you okay?" I asked before berating myself for asking such a stupid question.

The creature didn't mind though. Thank you for your concern but I am dying.

"Can we help you?" Asked Marco who looked worried at that moment, "We can call an ambulance, or something."

I looked at him, "Uh Marco I'm not trying to be a jerk here but how would an Ambulance of Humans that knows how to heal Humans help out here?" That got him stumped.

"Jake, give me your shirt!" I gave her a weird look as she said that.

_Really? You're asking him to take his shirt off at a time like this?!_ Then I heard the rest of the sentence.

"We can tear it up and make bandages." Shaking my earlier thought from my head the Alien spoke again.

'No. I will die. This wound is fatal.' It felt like a blow to the gut as he said that.

"You can't die!" Jake protested, "You're the first alien to ever come to Earth. You can't die."

I was trying really hard not to cry as this was happening.

'I'm not the first. There are many, many others.' Mr. Alien said and yet I had a strange sensation that he was familiar but I couldn't place it.

"Others? Are they like you?" Tobias practically demanded as I he said very loudly in my ear.

"Ow." I muttered as I rubbed it leaving the others to shake their heads at our antics at this time.

'No not like me. They are different.' Then we heard him grunt in pain in our heads and we could feel a little pain.

Jake swallowed nervously, "How are they different?"

None of us would ever forget his answer.

'They've come to destroy you.'

We all stared at the alien with wide eyes before looking at each other and I was wondering for a second if we were the victims of that TV show 'Punked' before shaking that thought away because this was too much right about now.

He continued to speak to us, 'They are called Yeerks. They are different from us. Different from you as well.'

"Are you telling us they're already here on Earth?" Rachel demanded.

'Many are here. Hundreds. Maybe more.'

"Oh that's great." I muttered throwing my arms into the air, "Just what we need an Alien Invasion. What's next a walking lawn mower and a centipede with laser cannons?!"

"Why hasn't anyone noticed them?" Asked Marco bringing up a very good point, "I think someone would've mentioned it at school."

'You do not understand. Yeerks are different. They have no body, like yours or mine. They live in the bodies of other species. They are . . . '

I guess he couldn't think of a word to explain Yeerks, so he closed his eyes and seemed to concentrate. Suddenly a bright picture popped into my head. I saw a gray-green, slimy thing like a snail without its shell, only bigger, the size of a rat, maybe. It wasn't a pretty picture. "I'm guessing that was a Yeerk," Marco said. "Either that or a very big wad of slimy chewing gum."

'They are almost powerless without hosts. They -'suddenly we felt that blast of pain, straight from the alien. I could also feel his sadness. He knew his time was almost up.

'The Yeerks are parasites. They must have a host to live in. In this form they are known as controllers. They enter the brain and are absorbed into it, taking over the host's thoughts and feelings. They try to get the host to accept them voluntarily. It is easier that way. Otherwise the host may be able to resist, at least a little.'

"Are you saying they take over human beings?" Rachel asked in disbelief. "People? These things take over their bodies?"

I shuddered at that thought, "Man that would be horrifying." I voiced getting the others to agree with me on that one.

Jake shook his head, "Look this is serious stuff. You shouldn't be telling us. We're just kids you know. This is something that the Government should deal with."

"Unless they're already Yeerks." I voiced without thinking having the others look at me, "Think about it if you were parasitic slugs than you would want to take over the people in charge first that way you wouldn't get any military response from them."

They agreed with my reasoning when the alien spoke up again explaining more stuff and something about Z-Space, it went over my head while the others were listening intently, but I didn't understand anything until he said that we must warn our people.

Marco shook his head, "No way is anyone going to believe us."

Jake nodded knowing that Marco was right but Rachel spoke up, "I don't care if he thinks that he's going to die I say we should get him to a Hospital. Or maybe Cassie's parents…"

"And what? Tell ask them to operate on an alien and warn them about an invasion of parasitic slugs? How would that work?" I asked in exasperation.

Rachel had a glint in her eyes and I knew that I was about to suffer her wrath before the alien interrupted us, 'There is no time. No time.' Then his eyes lit up in happiness, 'Perhaps…'

We couldn't take it anymore, "What?" We all asked impatiently.

'Go into my ship. You will see a small blue box, very plain. Bring it to me. Quickly! I have very little time and the Yeerks will find me soon.' He said urgently.

We all looked at each other before I sighed, "I'll get it." The others were shocked that I volunteered.

"Are you insane?" Asked Marco.

"He said that the Yeerks will be here soon and I don't know about you guys but I don't want them to be here while we're arguing about who gets the blue box this guy is talking about." Without another word I ran in there before I noticed that Jake followed me, "You coming too?"

He nodded, "You shouldn't go by yourself into something you don't know about."

I chuckled at that, "Thanks Jake."

He nodded, "No problem Logan."

We found the box easily with how the ship was, it was the only blue thing in the room and I grabbed it before I saw Jake looking at a picture that had the alien with three others like him one of them was younger while the other two were older than him, "His family?" I asked Jake who shook his head.

"They don't know that he's out here." He said sadly.

I honestly didn't have a clue on what to say to him at that so we hurried off the ship, "Here you go, I'm pretty sure this is the right one unless blue means something else where you come from." I joked trying to defuse the tension but it didn't work that well.

'Thank you.' He said as he took it gratefully.

Jake shifted uncomfortably, "I, um… Was that your family in the picture?" He asked.

'Yes.'

"I'm sorry." He said bowing his head.

The Alien smiled with his eyes again before he turned to speak with us, 'There is something that I may be able to do to help you fight the Yeerks.'

That caught us all off guard, "What?!" Asked Rachel in shock.

I swear that I heard the alien sigh, 'I know that you're young and I know that you have no power to resist the Controllers. But I may be able to give you small powers to that may help.'

We all looked at each other nervously wondering what we got ourselves into except for Tobias who kept looking at the Alien.

I may be Tobias's best friend but even I found it weird at how he looked at the Alien, like he was familiar to him.

"Powers?" Asked Cassie in confusion.

'It is a piece of Andalite technology that the Yeerks do not have.' Okay now we know that he's called an Andalite, 'A technology that has allowed us to pass unnoticed in many parts of the Universe- the power to Morph. We have never shared this power. But your needs are greater.'

"Morph? Morph how?" Asked Rachel in suspicion at what he meant.

'To change your bodies.' The Andalite explained, 'To become any other species. Any animal.'

My mouth hung open as I thought about that, "You mean shape shifting?!" I was a huge comic fan and I always found that power interesting and now I get to experience it firsthand.

Marco laughed, "Become animals?" He wasn't the most accepting person in the world.

'You will only need to touch a creature, to acquire its DNA pattern, and you will be able to become that creature. It requires concentration and determination, but, if you are strong, you can do it. There are . . . limitations. Problems. Dangers, even. But there is no time to explain it all . . . no time. You will have to learn for yourselves. But first, do you wish to receive this power?'

"He's kidding, right?" Marco asked me.

"No," Tobias said softly. "He's not kidding."

I rolled my eyes, "Marco he's dying, and do you really expect him to make a joke at a time like this?"

Marco didn't give up, "This is nuts." I had to give him that one, "This whole thing is nuts. Yeerks and spaceships and slugs taking over people's brains and Andalite's and the power to change into animals? Give me a break."

Jake agreed with him, "Yeah this is beyond weird."

"I think we hit the point of beyond weird when the alien spaceship landed in front of us." I pointed out.

Rachel picked up where I left off, "But unless we're all just dreaming, we should deal with this."

Tobias nodded but Cassie spoke up, "I'll do it."

Hearing that I nodded, "Count me in, because if there are alien parasites invading we won't win by ignoring it so I would rather go out fighting."

"Or not at all." Marco pointed out.

Jake shook his head, "I think that we should decide together." He suggested, "One way or the other."

"What's that?" Rachel asked suddenly pointing up so we looked up to see two bright red lights in the sky.

'Yeerks.' I swear we could feel his hatred.

They were slowing down but they were too far away to see us.

'There is no more time. You must decide!' The Andalite said urgently.

"We have to do this." Tobias said without hesitation, "We have to fight these Controllers."

"I'm with you Toby all the way to the Gates of Hell?" I asked holding out my hand.

He smirked, "All the way." We shook on it because it was something we did whenever we make a promise.

"This is insane!" Marco said nervously, "Insane."

"I'd like more time, but we don't have that choice." She said nodding, "I'm in."

"What do you say Jake?" Asked Cassie and we all turned towards him and I had a weird feeling that he seemed like the leader of our little rebel group that we're forming tonight.

I don't know how he felt about it but I have a feeling that he's the best person for the job.

Jake looked at all of us and I could practically tell what he was thinking when he looked at the others but when he looked at me I knew that he didn't know what to think about me because we rarely talk before he nodded with newfound determination in his eyes, "Yes. We have no choice."

The Andalite nodded, 'Then each of you, press your hands against one of the sides of the square.'

We all did that with all of our hands pressed against one side.

'Do not be afraid.' He said encouragingly before we each felt a small jolt of energy pour through us, it wasn't painful but it was something unexpected.

'Go now,' the Andalite said. 'Only remember this - never remain in animal form for more than two of your Earth hours. Never! That is the greatest danger of the morphing! If you stay longer than two hours you will be trapped, unable to return to human form.'

"Two hours?" I asked, "No pressure right?"

Then I felt dread coming from the Andalite as did the others.

'Visser Three! He comes.'

"What?" Asked Jake who was trying really hard not to shake in terror, "What's a Visser? Who's a Visser?"

The Andalite's eyes were very wide, 'Go now. Visser Three is here. He is the most deadly of your enemies. Of all the Yeerks he alone has the power to morph, the same power you now have. Run!'

Rachel shook her head, "No we'll stay with you." She said without hesitation, "Maybe we can help."

Then the Andalite's eyes were smiling again, 'No. You must save yourselves. Save yourselves and save the planet! The Yeerks are here.'

"But how will we fight these Controllers?" Asked Cassie who looked lost.

'You must find a way. Run!' He sounded impatient.

Jake nodded, "He's right. Run!" Everyone but Tobias ran but then I heard his voice in my head.

'Your name is Logan correct?' I jerked back and looked at him.

"How did you-." I asked in confusion.

'We've met before once. Take care of your friends.' With that I saw that Tobias was running but I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Are you insane?!" Marco bellowed in my ear before he dragged me off and we barely made it to cover as a light shone down on the Andalite.

_Dear God what did we get ourselves into?_ I thought in horror.

**To Be Continued…**


	3. Chapter 3: The Invasion Part 3

_**Chapter 3: The Invasion Part 3**_

The ships began to descend upon the clearing as search lights shone on the Andalite before they landed. They were slightly larger than the Andalite fighter and shaped like legless cockroaches. There were small windows like eyes on the forward-thrust head of the bug. And on either side of the head were two very long, very sharp, serrated spears.

"Okay you can wake me up now," Marco whispered in horror, "I've had enough of this dream."

Then a bigger ship landed and the door opened.

Cassie nearly screamed but Jake had enough sense to clamp her mouth shut as creatures that looked like walking weapons marched out.

They stood on two bent-back legs and had two very long arms. On each arm there were curved horn-blades growing out of the wrist and elbow. There were other blades at their bent-back knees, and two more blades at the end of their tails. They had feet like a Tyrannosaurus rex.

But it was the head that got your attention - a neck like a snake, a mouth that was almost a falcon's beak, and, from the forehead, three dagger-like horns raked forward.

Now Marco gave me the evil eye, "Walking lawnmowers huh?"

I chuckled nervously, "At least we don't have centipedes with Plasma Cannons."

'Hork-Bajir-Controllers.' We heard the Andalite's thoughts but it was weaker than before.

Jake looked at us, "Did you guys-…" He left the sentence unfinished when Rachel nodded.

"Yeah."

'The Hork-Bajir are good people, despite their fearsome looks,' the Andalite said. 'But they have been enslaved by the Yeerks. Each of them now carries a Yeerk in his head. They are to be pitied.'

Rachel rolled her eyes, "Pity. Right, they're walking killing machines." She muttered under her breath.

But our attention was drawn away by a new form that crept and slithered and shimmied out of the Blade ship.

Marco was giving me the stink eye again, "Any more aliens you want to bring up?" He asked sarcastically.

"I swear I was kidding." I hissed back.

"Knock it off you two." Whispered Jake, who didn't want to die at that moment, because we were arguing.

'Taxxon-Controllers,' the Andalite said. I knew he was trying to tell us all he could, even to the end. Trying to prepare us for what we were up against, 'The Taxxons are evil.'

"Yeah," Marco muttered under his breath, "I think we would've guessed that."

They were like massive centipedes, twice as long as a grown man. So big around that if you tried to hug one, your arms wouldn't make it even halfway. Not that anyone would ever want to.

They had dozens of legs that supported the lower two thirds of their bodies. The top third was held upright, and there the rows of legs became smaller, with little lobster-claw hands. Around the top of their disgusting, tubular bodies were four eyes, each like a wiggling globule of red Jell-O. And at the very end, pointing straight up in the air was a round mouth, ringed by hundreds of tiny teeth.

Hork-Bajir and Taxxons poured from the Blade ship, spreading out around the area like well-trained Marines. They were holding small, pistol-sized things that were definitely weapons. They formed a ring around the Andalite and his ship.

Suddenly, one of the Hork-Bajir came straight toward us. He took one big, bounding step and he was practically on top of us.

I felt my heart beating so rapidly that I was sure that he could hear it, Jake was hugging the dirt to stay out of sight and Marco was smiling but his eyes showed us pure terror.

The Hork-Bajir pointed his gun, or whatever it was, around at the darkness. His snake head swerved left and right, trying to penetrate the glooming darkness.

'Silence!' the Andalite warned us. 'Hork-Bajir do not see well in darkness, but their hearing is very good.'

The Hork-Bajir moved closer still. He was six feet away now, with just the low wall between us. He had to have heard my heart pounding. Maybe he didn't know what the sound was. Maybe he didn't recognize the sounds of six terrified kids whose knees were quivering and teeth were chattering. Kids who were breathing in short, sudden gasps.

I wasn't sure who was going to panic first and I was pretty sure it was going to be me… If you think you're brave then try being three feet away from an alien that can slice and dice you in a dozen different ways in three seconds.

'Courage my friends.' The Andalite said reassuringly.

And this . . . this warm . . . this . . . I don't have any words to explain it. It was just this warmth that spread all through me. It was like when you're a little kid and you've had a terrible nightmare and you've woken up screaming. You know how you used to feel better when your mom or dad would turn on the light and come in and sit beside you in bed?

That's what it was like.

I mean, I was still terrified. The Hork-Bajir was still there, so real and so deadly. I could hear him breathing, I could smell him. But at the same time, I could feel the panic coming under control. I could feel the strength flowing from the doomed Andalite. He was letting us borrow some of his courage, even though he must have been afraid himself.

The Hork-Bajir moved away. Something new was coming from the Blade ship. Shaking and chattering, Jake got up high enough to look over the low wall. Every Hork-Bajir and every Taxxon was turned toward the ship now.

"They're all standing at attention," He whispered in realization.

"How can you tell?" Marco whispered back. "Who knows when a jelly-eyed centipede or a walking Salad Shooter from Hell is standing at attention?"

"Who cares how he can tell?!" I whispered back, "Because if they're standing attention that means that something worse is coming out."

Then he appeared.

'Visser Three,' the Andalite said,

Visser Three was an Andalite.

"Oh shit." I muttered at the situation that we were in before I turned to Tobias, "Next time we're taking the bus home."

Tobias nodded, "Deal."

'Only once has a Yeerk been able to take an Andalite body,' the Andalite said. 'There is only one Andalite-Controller. That one is Visser Three,'

Visser Three walked confidently toward the wounded Andalite. The Visser seemed so much like the Andalite it was hard to tell them apart at first. He had the same mouth less face; the same extra stalk-eyes that turned here and there, checking out everything in all directions; the same powerful yet sleek four-legged body; and the same wicked tail.

But if the Visser looked like any normal Andalite, he felt different. It was like he was wearing a mask, only you just knew that under the fake sweetness of the mask there was something twisted and foul.

'Well, well,' Visser Three said in what sounded like amusement.

I'm pretty sure that my heart gave out from sheer terror at hearing Visser Three's voice in my head.

"Can he hear our thoughts?" Whispered Cassie in horror.

Rachel answered her, "If he can we're so dead I don't even want to think about it."

He cannot hear your thoughts,' the Andalite told us. 'As long as you don't direct them to him. You hear his thoughts because he is broadcasting them for all to hear. This is a great victory for him, so he wants all to hear.'

I swallowed nervously, which is hard when your throat feels like sandpaper.

'What have we here? A meddling Andalite?' Visser Three looked more closely at the Andalite's ship. 'Ah, but no ordinary Andalite warrior. Prince Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul, if I am not mistaken. An honor to meet you. You're a legend. How many of our fighters have you shredded? Seven, or was it eight by the time the battle ended?'

Elfangor glared at Visser Three and we all got the feeling it was more than eight.

'The very last Andalite in this sector of space. Yes, I'm afraid your Dome ship has been completely destroyed. Completely. I watched it burn as it fell into the atmosphere of this little world.'

'There will be others,' Elfangor said . . .

The Visser took a step closer to Elfangor. 'Yes, and when they come it will be too late. This world will be mine. My own contribution to the Yeerk Empire, Our greatest conquest. And then I'll be Visser One.'

'What do you want with these Humans?' Elfangor asked. 'You have your Taxxon allies. You have your Hork-Bajir slaves. And other slaves from other worlds. Why these people?'

'Because there are so many, and they are so weak,' Visser Three sneered. 'Billions of bodies! And they have no idea what's happening. With this many hosts we can spread throughout the universe, unstoppable! Billions of us. We'll have to build a thousand new Yeerk pools just to raise Yeerks for half this number of bodies. Face it, Andalite you have fought well and bravely. But you have lost'

Visser Three stepped right up to Elfangor who despite his pain was standing to meet him not going down without a fight and I felt respect growing towards the Andalite.

But Visser Three was not done taunting his foe. 'I promise you one thing, Prince Elfangor - when we have this planet, with its rich harvest of bodies, we will move against the Andalite home world. I will personally hunt down your family. And I will personally oversee the placement of my most faithful lieutenants in their heads. I hope that they will resist, so I can hear their minds scream.'

That must've pissed Elfangor off because his tail moved quickly slicing right above Visser Three's right eye causing him to scream in pain as blood shot out.

'Aaaaaarrrrrgh!' I could hear the Visser's howl of pain in my head.

"Yes." I heard Jake mutter and we all agreed with him.

At the same time, a blinding beam of blue light shot from the tail of the Andalite ship. It sliced into the nearest Bug fighter. Hork-Bajir and Taxxons scattered. Even crouching behind the wall, I could feel a wave of blistering heat. The Bug fighter sizzled and disappeared.

'Fire!' Visser Three yelled. 'Burn his ship!'

The night exploded in blinding light. Red beams lanced from the Blade ship and the remaining Bug fighter. The Andalite ship glowed, and, with a strange slowness, disintegrated. Then, in the flash and glow of Dracon beams I saw . . . or thought I saw . . . humans. A small group of them, maybe three or four, back in the shadows behind the Visser.

"There are people over there!" Jake mentioned to Marco.

"What?" Marco looked over to confirm that, "Are they prisoners?"

"If they are then that means that they treat prisoners better than Royalty." I muttered.

Take the Andalite, Visser Three ordered his soldiers. Hold him for me.

Three big Hork-Bajir grabbed the Andalite and held him down. Their wrist blades were at his throat, but they knew better than to kill him. That was to be Visser Three's personal privilege.

Then we saw why a Yeerk as powerful as Visser Three would inhabit the only captured Andalite body. As we watched, Visser Three began to morph.

His Andalite head grew large, larger. Much larger. The four horse like legs merged into two and then expanded, each leg becoming as big around as a redwood tree. The delicate Andalite arms sprouted and became tentacles.

"This isn't real," Cassie whispered. "This isn't real."

In the hideously bloated head, a mouth appeared. It was filled with teeth as long as your arm. The mouth grew wider and wider, becoming a monstrous, terrifying grin. There was nothing left of the Andalite body, A monster had taken its place.

"R-r-r-r-a-a-a-w-w-w-w-g-g-g!" The roar of the beast Visser Three had become made the ground shake.

We all covered our ears with our hands.

"R-r-r-r-r-r-a-a-a-a-g-g-g!"

My teeth rattled from the sound. I heard someone whimpering. It was Jake.

Visser Three had become a monster that made the Hork-Bajir and the Taxxons look like harmless toys. He reached out with one thick tentacle and grabbed the Andalite by the neck.

"No, no, no." Cassie whispered in horror at what we were seeing.

"Don't look," Rachel said to her. She put her arm around Cassie's shoulder and held her close.

Then she reached for Tobias and took his hand and normally I would've congratulated Tobias on that fact if the situation wasn't this bad.

Visser Three lifted the Andalite straight up in the air, tearing him from the grasp of the Hork-Bajir. The Andalite prince struck again and again with his tail. But each strike was like a pinprick against such a creature.

Visser Three held the Andalite high in the air. And then Visser Three opened his mouth wide.

Next thing I knew Jake pushed past me with a lead pipe trying to climb over the wall but he hesitated a second for some reason so I took advantage of that and pulled him down despite his protests, "Are you out of your freaking mind?!" I whispered to him as he struggled, "And while we're on that subject a lead pipe against the Hork-Bajirs?! Seriously?!"

Jake glared at me but Cassie put a hand on his shoulder, "Jake, don't. He doesn't want you to die for him. Don't you realize? He's dying for us."

He still struggled for a few more seconds before he gave up and I let him go, knowing that he wasn't going to pull another stupid stunt like that again. He still glared at me though.

_You're welcome for saving your life by the way._ I thought cynically.

We all peeked over the wall again and the Andalite prince was helpless in the grasp of Visser Three. I saw him held high in the air. I saw Visser Three open his monstrous, gaping jaws. I saw the Andalite fall into that open mouth.

The mouth closed. The teeth ripped the Andalite apart. And the Andalite Prince Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul died.

At the very end, he cried out. His cry of despair was in our heads. His cry will always be in our heads.

The Hork-Bajir-Controllers began making a huffing sound, like whuh-whuh-whuh. Maybe they were laughing or applauding. The Taxxon-Controllers rushed forward and crowded around Visser Three. They seemed to be stretching up toward him, and then I saw why – a piece of the Andalite fell from the Visser's jaws and the nearest Taxxon greedily gobbled it up.

Tobias turned away and covered his face with his hands. Cassie had tears streaming from her eyes. So did Jake. Me I was trying not to cry but I was failing epically.

We heard a sound that was strange because it was so normal. It was laughter. Human laughter. The humans . . . the Human-Controllers - because that's what they were - were laughing, like they were at some kind of a show.

Visser Three morphed out of his monstrous form and slowly regained his Andalite body. 'Ah,' I heard him announce, 'nothing like a good Antarean Bogg morph for . . . taking a bite out of your enemies.'

Again the Human-Controllers laughed and the Hork-Bajir-Controllers huffed.

Marco started throwing up. It was an understandable thing to do. But somehow that sound caught the attention of the nearest Hork-Bajir.

The snake head turned. He was perfectly still.

We were perfectly still.

The Hork-Bajir turned toward us. The nearsighted eyes were aimed directly at our little hiding place.

I don't know who panicked first. Maybe it was me. Maybe we'd just had all the fear and horror we could stand. It was like an electric shock went through all of us. We were running before I had a chance to even know what I was doing.

I was not the best runner but I swear that I would've made track stars jealous… I guess that it's true that when your life is in danger you can do amazing things.

Amidst all of our running I heard Jake shout, "**SPLIT-UP!** They can't follow us all at once!"

I followed his order because I was trying to avoid death at that possible moment. After five minutes of running I was giving out pained breaths with my side in pain so I hid behind a wall heaving in pain.

_Oh man! What do I do?!_ I thought in horror. _Did they all get away?_ I tried not to think of everyone being caught by those Hork-Bajir because that caused very graphic images to go through my head before I froze in terror as I heard heavy footsteps heading my way so I backed quickly into the shadows thanking whatever God is out there that I chose to wear dark clothes today.

The thing following me came into view and I could see that it was a human controller with a Hork-Bajir and I recognized the human.

It was Ms. Gila… I knew that she wasn't human!

"Search and kill the witnesses." She hissed at the Hork-Bajir, "We'll just save the head for identification."

The Hork-Bajir nodded and began to look around the room with each passing second he was getting closer and closer to my hiding spot.

I tried to hold my breath because of my panting and I waited as he passed by right where I was before he stiffened and turned towards me.

My heart was hammering against my chest as his hand reached towards me.

Then Ms. Gila turned a Flashlight on and shone it in my face before she smirked, "Well hello Logan." She said deviously.

_Oh crap!_ Was my only thought as the Hork-Bajir grabbed my arm.

**To Be Continued…**


	4. Chapter 4: The Invasion Part 4

_**Chapter 4: The Invasion Part 4**_

_Oh crap!_ The Hork-Bajir grabbed my arm and was raising a blade to my throat when Ms. Gila stopped him.

"No wait, he knows who the others are so we'll get the info from him." She said before looking at me, "Now you can either talk now or you will be forced to talk."

"Can I just forget everything and go home?" I joked trying not to crap myself.

"I'm afraid that's not an option." _Knew it._

I tried to remember what I could do when one thing reached my brain.

_'You can become any animal you touch.'_

_Aliens were animals like humans right?_ With that thought I noticed that the Hork-Bajir was gripping the bare part of my arm so I tried to remember how Elfangor said to become an animal and while I was thinking that the Hork-Bajir froze with glazed eyes causing Ms. Gila to look at it in surprise.

"What are you doing boy?!" She screeched not knowing what was happening.

The Hork-Bajir was still frozen as I thought about becoming it when I felt myself getting taller and horns shot out of my forehead which should've hurt but it didn't.

Now Ms. Gila watched as I grew a few more feet, turning green and my face changed to a beak on a snake neck and blades popped out of my wrist, elbows and kneecap. Then a tail shot out with two more blades. Sadly my clothes ripped up as did my shoes.

The last part was the bones knocking together as they shifted as did my organs and finally it was done.

I became a Hork-Bajir.

Then the Hork-Bajir that was holding me shook his head in confusion and something came over me like an instinct and I brought my arm forward the elbow blade slicing his head off before he could blink and my tail came back going right through Ms. Gila.

After it was done I finally realized what I just did. I murdered a school teacher and an alien… Granted they were trying to kill me but they were slaves to the Yeerks.

"Ghafrash! What did I do? Ghafrash?!" I didn't even blink at the sudden mix of alien and English Language as I took off running turning back to normal as I did so.

I don't know how I made it home, but I didn't care either. I was just happy that I made it.

I'm also thankful that my parents were already asleep so I didn't have to explain why I was barefooted and why my clothes were shredded.

The next day I wouldn't get out of bed as I laid there in terror not thinking about what happened to Elfangor but what I did.

I could still hear the blades going through flesh in my mind as I murdered two living beings.

"Why couldn't it be a dream?" I whispered mostly to myself.

What I didn't expect was someone to answer back, "Because our lives are insane." I looked up to see Marco in my doorway.

"Marco? What are you doing here?" Then I thought of a better question, "How did you know where I lived?"

Marco held up a hand to keep me from talking to loudly, "Come on we're going to Cassie's farm and I'll explain there." He looked out my door, "By the way your parents just left for work but I don't know if they would come back for something they forgot or not."

With that I got dressed while he waited in the kitchen and walked down, "So how did you know where I lived anyway?" I asked as we walked out the door.

"Tobias told me while he went to get Jake; the girls are already at the barn." He explained, "Man I was really hoping it was a dream."

"You and me both."

We were silent the rest of the way to the barn where we saw Rachel leaning against the wall so Marco sat on a wooden box while I just stood there.

"I'm guessing Jake and Toby aren't here yet?" I asked as I kept an eye for them, "Speaking of which where's Cassie?"

Rachel shrugged, "Jake said they're on their way and as for Cassie she's doing something right now."

She didn't say anything more than that and I figured it was a girl thing to be honest.

Half an hour later Tobias showed up and I chatted with him for a few minutes before Jake came up on his bike, "Sorry I took so long I had Saturday Morning Chores." He explained.

"Chores?" Asked Marco in disbelief, "We have aliens invading and you're worried about chores?!"

"Alien Invasion or not I would rather avoid my parents yelling at me." Jake told him before Rachel opened her eyes.

She immediately threw a newspaper at him. "Look," she said, pointing to an article.

Jake started to read the article and I read it over his shoulder. It wasn't very long. It said that police claimed there had been a disturbance in the construction site the night before. It said several people had called, claiming they'd seen flying saucers landing there, followed by bright lights.

"Cool," Jake said, looking up. "So the cops know about it now. That's a relief."

"Amen." I quipped.

"Keep reading," Rachel said.

The article went on to say that the police had arrived on the scene and found a group of teenagers playing with fireworks. The teenagers had run away. Fireworks were discovered at the scene.

The police spokesman had laughed at the reports of flying saucers. "It was just a bunch of kids playing where they shouldn't have been," he said. "There were definitely no flying saucers. People shouldn't be so quick to believe nonsense."

"But this is a total lie," Jake said.

I rolled my eyes, "No really?" I asked sarcastically.

"Ding, ding, ding, ding! Correct answer. Johnny, tell our contestant what he's won," Marco

Joked.

"Did you see the last part?" Rachel pressed.

Jake read the last sentence. It froze him up good, "Police were offering a reward for information on the teenagers."

"They're looking for us," Marco said.

"Why would the police be . . . I mean, why would they lie?" He wondered aloud. But the answer was pretty obvious.

I face palmed, "Do you really have to ask?"

Marco laughed his sardonic laugh. "Let's see, Captain Brilliant - would it be because the cops are Controllers?"

"Probably not all the cops," Tobias pointed out.

"If the police have been infiltrated by the Controllers, who knows how many others have, too?" Rachel asked. "Teachers? People in the government? The newspapers and the TV?"

"Math teachers, for sure," Marco joked.

"That one is actually true." Now everyone was looking at me in surprise, "Ms. Gila was there."

Jake frowned as he read the paper, "It says here that she was found with her head cut off."

"Who would do something like that?" Asked Marco in shock and I fidgeted a bit before they looked at me again.

"Did I mention that I can now morph a Hork-Bajir?" I said with a small smile.

Marco edged away from me at that.

"I tried to tell myself it was all a dream," Rachel said trying to change the subject thankfully.

"Been there," Jake muttered.

For a while no one said anything. We all felt the same terrible feeling - like we were all alone.

Like suddenly we were dealing with stuff that was way, way, way over our heads.

Marco spoke first. "Look, why do we have to deal with this? I say we just forget it. We never talk about it. We never morph. We just deal with our own lives."

Tobias and Rachel and I looked at Jake. We were waiting for him to argue with Marco. "Marco, I halfway agree with you -" he started to say.

Suddenly Marco just went ballistic. "We could get killed!" he yelled. "Don't you get it? You saw what happened to the Andalite. I mean, this is radical stuff, Jake. This is for real. Real! We could all get killed."

Tobias was looking at Marco with this sideways look, like he thought maybe Marco was some kind of coward but I knew Marco long enough to know that he wasn't a coward, if he was then he wouldn't have shown up at all.

Marco shook his head. In a quiet voice he said, "Look, I think these Controllers are jerks. But if something happened to me . . . my dad. He wouldn't be able to handle it."

I gave him a look of sympathy but before I could say anything he continued.

"You can all think I'm a weasel if you want," Marco said. "I don't care. But if I get killed or something, my dad will flat-out die. He's only hanging in there because of me."

"There's Cassie," Rachel said, shielding her eyes and looking off across the open field.

A horse, galloping across the green. Its black mane was flying in the warm breeze. We didn't see any rider though.

The horse slowed, trotting closer, and suddenly I had a strange feeling about the horse.

"Cassie and I have been here for a while," Rachel said by way of explanation. "She's really good at this. Look how fast she can do it."

The horse nickered softly. Then the animal began to melt. The big brown eyes became slightly smaller. The long muzzle became a human mouth,

A thing that was part horse and part Cassie smiled at us with big horse teeth and said, "Hey, kids."

Marco suddenly sat down. Very hard. He had never seen a morphing.

I on the other hand blinked a few times trying to process this before I sighed, "Well I shouldn't sound too surprised since I morphed an Alien already."

"It's cool." Jake said trying to sound calm, "It's just Cassie."

As she demorphed I remembered that the clothes ripped to shred when I morphed so I turned away trying not to blush and I saw that Jake and Tobias had the same thought.

I was about to tell Marco when I saw that Cassie did have clothes on in mid-morph she was wearing a skintight blue outfit. One of those outfits girls wear to do aerobics.

I watched and saw something beautiful happen. For just a few seconds, she stayed half-horse and half-human. She reminded me of the Andalite. I realized it was deliberate. Cassie was controlling the way she morphed.

"Jeez Rachel." I heard Jake say, "You're right. Cassie is good."

Suddenly we heard the sound of tires on gravel.

We all spun around. Down the gravel and dirt road came a single black-and-white car.

"The cops!" Tobias cried.

Yes our luck really sucked right about now.

"Cassie. Morph. Now!" Jake snapped. The police car was coming fast. "We do not want to have to explain a half-horse half-person."

"Which way should I morph?" Cassie wailed. "Horse or human?" She reared up slightly on her hind legs.

We knew what was happening. She was fighting the horse's urge to panic.

"Human, human, human!" Jake said. "Everybody, stand in front of her!"

The police car squealed to a stop, sending the gravel flying. A single policeman stepped out.

Jake waved at him.

"Morning," he said. "You kids, uh . . . hiding something?"

I wanted to look over my shoulder and see what kind of shape Cassie was in. But that would have been a mistake. "Hiding something?" Jake repeated.

"Step aside, all of you," he ordered.

We did, revealing Cassie. Fully human.

The policeman looked puzzled. But then he shrugged.

Jake and I breathed a huge sigh of relief.

"Can we help you, officer?" Rachel asked in her best "responsible" voice.

"We're making some inquiries," he said, still looking at Cassie like something must be wrong with her. "We're looking for some kids who were shooting off fireworks in the construction site across from the mall last night."

Suddenly Marco started coughing.

"Something the matter with him?" the policeman asked.

"Nope," Jake said. "Nothing wrong with him."

I put an arm around Marco, "He's just getting over a cold, so he'll cough every once in a while." I said forcing a laugh out.

"We want these kids," the policeman said. "We want them real bad. See, it was dangerous what they did. Could have been someone hurt. So we want to find the kids."

Suddenly I knew. He was one of them. The policeman was a Controller. I looked at his face.

It seemed normal. But inside his head was a creature from another planet - an evil, parasitic slug. Just behind those normal, human-looking eyes, something vile lurked.

"I don't know anything about it," Jake lied.

He looked at Jake real close, and I began to sweat.

"Hey, you know what?" he said. "You look familiar. You look like a young man I know named Tom."

"He's my brother," Jake said.

"Tom's your brother, eh? Well, he's a good kid. I know him from The Sharing. I'm one of the adult supervisors. Great group, The Sharing. You should come to a meeting."

"Yeah, um, Tom invited me already," He said and I narrowed my eyes at how convenient that was.

"We have a lot of fun."

"Yeah," Jake repeated,

"Well, you call me if you hear anything about these kids in the construction site. I should warn you - they may come up with some wild story to conceal their guilt. But you're too smart to believe a bunch of crazy lies, aren't you?"

"He's a regular genius," Marco said.

Finally the policeman took off.

"Okay, rule number one," Rachel announced firmly. "We don't do anything to attract attention. We have to be secret about everything. Especially morphing."

Cassie looked embarrassed. "Yeah, it was stupid of me. It's just, man! It is so amazing, running like that. Out in the open spaces, running and running."

"How did you manage to morph with clothing?" Jake asked. "When Tobias and I did it . . . well, let's just say it's a good thing neither of you girls was around."

"It took some practice," Cassie said, "And it can only be tight clothing. I tried it with a coat on. It got shredded. J don't know what we'll do in the winter."

"That's not going to be a problem," Marco said firmly. "Because there isn't going to be any more morphing."

"Maybe Marco is right," Rachel said. "This is too big for us. We're just kids. We need to find someone important to tell this to. Someone we can trust,"

"We can't trust anyone," Tobias said flatly. "Anyone could be a Controller. We tell the wrong person, we are all dead. And the whole world will be doomed."

"I don't want to stop morphing," Cassie said. "Do you realize all we could do with this power? We could communicate with animals, maybe. Help save endangered species,"

"Humans may be the next endangered species, Cassie," Tobias said quietly.

I put in my two cents, "Plus what can we do Marco? Hide and hope this goes away?" I didn't wait for him to answer, "I don't know about you but I'm fighting!"

"What do you say, Jake?" Cassie asked looking at him.

"Me?" Jake shrugged. "I don't know. Marco's right, we could all get killed. Rachel's right, this is too major for a bunch of kids." Jake hesitated. "But Tobias is right, too. I mean, the whole world is in danger. And we can't trust anyone and Logan's right we can't just ignore this"

"So, what do we do?" Rachel demanded.

"Hey, it's not up to me to decide," Jake said hotly.

"Let's take a vote," Rachel said.

"I vote we try to live long enough to get driver's licenses," Marco said.

"I vote we do what the Andalite said - fight," Tobias said.

"You've never even been in a fight," Marco sneered. "You can't handle the punks at school. Suddenly now you want to kick butt on that Visser Three freakazoid?"

Tobias said nothing, but a blush spread up his neck.

"I vote with Tobias," Rachel said, giving Marco a dirty look. "I wish we could dump all this on someone else. But we can't."

"Like I said last night Toby all the way to the Gates of Hell!" I said with a smirk, "There's no way I'm going to let my best friend fight a bunch of parasitic aliens without me!"

Tobias nodded with a grin, "Thanks Logan!"

"Let's think it over for a while," Cassie said. "This is a big decision. I mean, it's not like we're deciding whether to wear jeans or a skirt."

Jake was relieved. Thank goodness for Cassie.

"Yeah, let's wait for a while," Jake agreed. "In the meantime, no one say anything to anyone. We just go back to normal life."

There was a smirk on Marco's face. He thought he'd won. But I wasn't so sure. Tobias was still blushing. He sent a secret, grateful look to Rachel and I hid a smirk at that.

With that done everyone left but me and Tobias, "So you morphed your cat?" I asked giving him a look.

He chuckled, "You heard that from Jake?"

I nodded, "Now what was being a cat like?"

"Morph one and find out."

"I will if I can get a hold of a cat." I retorted.

We chuckled before I thought about it some more, "Man this is just weird."

Tobias gave me a confused look.

"You know morphing." He nodded at that, "I mean just yesterday we were just normal kids who didn't have a care in the world and now." I shook my head, "We have shape shifting powers from an Alien and we're in the middle of an intergalactic war."

Tobias patted my shoulder, "Hey it could be worse." He said with a grin.

"Yeah you're right."

**To Be Continued…**


End file.
